horizon
by oblivion's pen
Summary: [preKH] Before they became the heroes and the villains. Before the destruction of the worlds. Before everything...when it was okay just to exist. [for RawkinParadox's contest]


Yeees, the summary is very cheesy.

Pairings: none, although smudges of Riku.Sora probably escaped into there. (_sigh_)  
Summary: Before they became the heroes and the villains. Before the destruction of the worlds. Before everything...when it was okay just to exist.  
Disclaimer: I don't own the game Kingdom Hearts. I own the plot, dammit, the plot!

For **RawkinParadox**'s challenge.

**Special Thanks** to my lovely dear friend, Chiisarin. BAO FOREVER!

* * *

h o r i z o n

The new, older boy was _glaringly_ new. Absolutely, positively, _glaringly_ new. Sora wasn't exactly the sharpest crayon, but he knew that much, for Newolderboy's skin was paler than most of the islanders. His hair seemed to be the odd color of silver starlight, and his eyes were a deep aquamarine; Newolderboy was unlike anyone Sora had ever seen. And there he was sitting, all by himself at the edge of the pier, glancing around nervously in a way _he_ thought was obviously inconspicious, but most of all--_alone_.

And Sora frowned, promptly deciding that he would be Newolderboy's friend. So he began to run over excitedly, paying no mind to the fact that his new straw sandals (and his shorts, for that matter) were getting sprayed with both wet and dry sand. _I wonder what he's going to be like_, the brunette thought, possibilities whirling in his mind. _Maybe like Tidus? Or Wakka? Or Selphie?_

His feet slowed to a stop, and Sora began to walk slowly over to Newolderboy, his feet making soft pitter-patter sounds against the creaky wooden boards beneath. As he took another step forward, the old (rotting) wooden boards gave an unexpected groan, and Sora let out a yelp as he crashed into the water below. Now in the salty blue water, Sora began to panic, twisting this way and that in the water. More than ever, he wished that, at this moment, he could _swim_. But he couldn't. And so, he thrashed, frantically trying to reach the surface and give his lungs some much-needed oxygen.

Sora didn't stop panicking even as arms wrapped around his thin waist, beginning to pull the young, six-year-old up toward the sloping, sandy shore. He only knew that his mind began to get foggier, his motions more sluggish...

...And they broke through the water's surface, Sora's only thought being _air, need air! _

"Sheesh. What kind of kid lives on an island and doesn't know how to swim?" Sora coughed, opening his large blue eyes to stare straight into pools of aquamarine. Angry aquamarine, but aquamarine nonetheless. "Hey, a-are you okay? Hello?" A finger poked his chest, and Sora coughed once more, sitting up. Even after being wet, he noticed that his messy brown hair still stuck straight up. Which made him giggle slightly. "W-What's so funny?"

Sora blinked. "Oh. Well, I was looking at my hair, and I noticed that even...after it got...wet...it...um..." The younger boy blinked, cowering lightly under Newolderboy's intensely not-happy gaze. "Still stuck straight up," Sora whispered in a small voice. He stood, slowly, beginning to wring out the salty water from his shirt. _Mom's not gonna be happy._

"Are you okay?" asked Newolderboy again, crossing his arms in a manner that said, 'hey-I'm-older-so-I'm-the-boss.' But Sora was oblivious to these things.

"Yeah, now I am," replied Sora, grinning widely. "Thank you for saving me! I thought I was a goner...It's weird, because those boards never cracked _before_, and..."

"Maybe it's 'cause you're so _heavy_," teased Newolderboy, as he smirked. But, again, Sora was oblivious to the teasing tone in his savior's voice, and in three minutes, Newolderboy found himself preoccupied with a crying Sora. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! W-Why are you crying? Stop!"

"Y-You s-said I w-was h-heavy!" stuttered Sora as Newolderboy waved his arms around frantically.

"It was a joke, a _joke_!" protested Newolderboy.

"J-Joke?" A small sniffle, and Sora immediately stopped, his momentary sadness replaced by overwhelming curiosity. The aquamarine-eyed boy in front of him sighed.

"You don't know what a _joke_ is?" Sora shook his head. "Oh, man. Okay. A joke is when you say something, but...you don't really mean it."

"Mommy says that's lying," stated Sora bluntly, now more confused than ever. An exasperated sigh was heard as the starlit-haired boy in front of him slapped his forehead.

"Just-Just-ahhh, nevermind!" muttered the older boy. "Forget it." Newolderboy scratched the back of his head, and then crossed his arms awkwardly. "Do you want me to teach you how to swim?" Sora's eyes lit up, turning into huge, sparkling sapphires.

"_Really_?!" he asked. Newolderboy nodded. "Thank you!" However, before the two went back into the water, Sora turned towards the new boy. "My name's Sora." The brunette grinned widely, sapphire eyes curving into twin crescents.

The older boy smiled for the very first time. "My name's Riku." A companionable, five-second silence passed, before Riku said, "Hey, come back here in an hour, okay? My mom's gonna get mad if I swim in these." Riku began to leave.

"Promise?" called Sora.

"Promise!" came the shouted reply.

A promise it was.

. x .

"Hey, who's that?"

Sora blinked, looking around. He didn't notice the huge smudge of ice cream on his cheek. "What's who?" he asked, confused. Riku rolled his ten-year-old eyes, wiping the smudge away with his fist and then rubbing it on his legs.

Nudging Sora lightly, Riku tilted his chin in the desired direction. "That. Her. Whatever. Who is that?" Riku wondered, raising an eyebrow. "That's definitely not Tidus or Wakka, and it sure isn't Selphie, 'cause we had to lock her in the shack after she got to the sugar."

"Hmm...I don't know," Sora said thoughtfully, taking a lick of his vanilla ice cream. "Maybe she just moved here." His eyes suddenly sparkled again. "Hey, hey, let's go talk to her!" Riku raised an eyebrow. He didn't feel like getting up, let alone introducing himself to someone. Riku let out a sigh, and Sora pouted. "Oh no, you don't, Riku! I _know_ that sigh. It's the 'I-don't-want-to-introduce-myself' sigh!"

"We've been hanging out _way_ too much," Riku muttered, utterly confused on how Sora could recognize all of his facial expressions. Then again, they _had_ been friends for three years, now, ever since that incident at the pier...

"Well maybe we should stop hanging out, then," Sora offered, and Riku immediately bristled, aquamarine eyes narrowing at the younger boy. Sora grinned. "Calm down. It's just a _joke_." And before Riku could snap back with a snarky comment, Sora was already laughing and running towards Newyoungergirl, waving for Riku to come.

The older boy sighed, standing up as he watched Sora fall flat on his face, due to his foot being snagged on a loose plank. The girl turned around immediately, gasping and rushing to the brunette's aid. Riku shook his head. Yup. That was his Sora.

While Riku was taking his leisurely time to walk over to them, Newyoungergirl--who had surprising strength, really--was in the process of yanking Sora's foot hard, while the brunette struggled to not fall into the water. As the mahogany-haired girl continued to tug, she was taken by surprise when Riku's hand shot out and yanked Sora's foot hard. The tearing of fabric was heard, and both Riku and the new girl helped pull Sora up (though now, apparently, he would need to mend a section of his pants).

The sapphire-eyed Sora smiled sheepishly. "S-Sorry about that." The mahogany-haired girl blinked, her violet eyes opening and closing, before she giggled.

"That's okay," she said, giggling again. "But you really should be careful." Riku snorted.

"Careful? Him? You really _are_ new."

A frown crossed her lips as she let out a long sigh. The girl laced her lightly tanned fingers together, thumbs twiddling with each other. "Yeah..."

Sora nudged Riku once in the ribs, before grinning and offering Newyoungergirl a hand. "That's okay! We'll be your friends! What's your name?"

Violet eyes blinked again. "Kairi," she introduced, taking the hand and shaking it vigorously. Sora pulled his hand back slowly, making a mental 'ow!' as he smiled.

"I'm Sora!" Kairi smiled prettily.

"Hi, Sora."

Momentary silence. Sora nudged Riku--once again--in the ribs _hard_, muffling a snicker when the previously occupied boy let out an indignant 'what the--?!' Begrudingly, Riku stuck out his hand. "Riku," he grumbled. Kairi stared at the hand, her gaze then going to Riku's face, and then quickly back down to his hand.

"Hiya, Riku," she said, taking the hand and shaking it just as vigorously as Sora had. "So..."

"So..."

"..."

Awkward.

It wasn't until Sora's stomach growled loudly that the younger boy placed his palm on it, flushing a delicate red. "I'm hungry. Wanna come over to my house to eat, Kairi?" asked Sora. He gave a smile so filled with sunshine that Riku was pretty sure he was temporarily blinded.

"Sure!" the girl chirped, walking side-by-side with Sora as they began the trek to the brunette's house. Riku didn't budge.

Sora turned back around, confused when he no longer felt Riku's presence next to him. "Hey! Riku! C'mon!" The boy didn't budge. "I'm huuungrrryy!" Sora whined. Still no movement. "I'll race you!"

And Riku was flying by Sora within the next moment.

Kairi chased after them. "W-Wait! You're going really fast!"

And they ran.

. x .

The sky was painted a murky gray. Kairi and Sora were huddled in the shack, shivering coldly. Now twelve-years-old, the two had been gathering supplies for their trip when a storm suddenly struck without notice. As Sora scooted closer to the fire, he let out a small groan when the fire began to die out. Though he and Kairi blew harshly to try and rekindle the flame, it died out definitively when the door swung open. A gust of cold rain and wind whipped into the small shack, and the door hurriedly closed again.

"The fire went out..." Kairi mourned, sighing. She rubbed her arms, trying to make the prickly feeling of gooseflesh go away.

"Riku...you're soaked," Sora murmured, frowning. Looking around, the sapphire-eyed boy grasped a nearby towel and dropped it on the older's head. "Better dry off your head. Otherwise you're gonna catch pneumonia and get sick and die and oh my _gosh_, Riku, don't die and leave us!"

Riku pushed back some wet bangs, beginning to dry his hair as Sora had suggested. "Stupid. I'm not going to catch pneumonia, and I'm _not_ going to die. At least, not before I explore the worlds," Riku said wistfully. Then he shook his head--letting loose another spray of water--and frowned. "What happened to the fire?"

"You blew it out," teased Kairi, giggling as she pointed to the door. Riku muttered a small curse.

"Luckily, we stacked enough in here to make this place go up in flames," Sora laughed, grabbing a log. "Now, anyone know how to make a fire?" Both Kairi and Riku began to open their mouths, before Sora finished, "_Without_ lighters or matches?" And they fell silent. Sora mumbled an incoherent sentence as he grasped a stick--which, luckily, wasn't wet--and began to spin and rub it harshly against another log.

"You're not _doing_ it fast enough," Riku pointed out, placing his hands on the bottom of the stick as he began to twist it even faster. Sora's hands scrambled in an attempt to keep up as Kairi laughed. She, too, placed her hands on the stick, and together, the three tried to create fire.

-

"Do you think they're in here?"

"Probably!"

The shack's door swung open loudly, as Selphie Tilmitt came marching in, placing her fists on her hips. Her large emerald eyes blinked curiously at the sight in front of her, as she giggled, jumping up and down. Her brown hair swayed with the movements as she yanked Tidus in, pointing and snickering. Tidus raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head and closing his blue eyes. He scratched the back of his sandy-blonde hair. "What kind of retards can't make fire with a stick and some wood?" he muttered.

"Hehe! Be nice, Tiiiiidus. They're probably tired," Selphie said thoughtfully. "Let's leave them there. We'll wake them up in an hour." For once, the young Tilmitt was being reasonably sane as she pranced on out of there. Tidus took one more look, shaking his head.

Sora was slumbering in the middle, while Kairi had her head on his shoulder. Riku had slumped over too far, his head in Sora's lap. All three were deep asleep, the shack filled with the soothing sounds of Riku, Sora, and Kairi's buzzing snores.

With a grin, Tidus uncapped a marker, drawing on all their faces, before nodding with satisfaction and closing the door shut.

An hour later, Kairi--with a newly-acquainted, drawn-on circle around her eyes and nose--yawned and pointed at Sora and Riku. "Whoa. Are those mustaches drawn on, or did you hit puberty while we were sleeping or something?"

And Sora pouted and Riku sighed and Kairi laughed.

* * *

Um...yeah. I'm sorry for the crappiness, I guess...? 

Yeah, okay, I admit it. It was...uh...odd. And really bad. But that's okay, I think.

I think...

.oblivion's pen


End file.
